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Saturday, July 11, 2009

I have had long hair for the majority of my life. In high school, it was to my waist and through college and beyond, not much shorter. When I had Little Miss, I cut it significantly, as she was a hair puller. Since then, I've been growing it out. I recently reached a milestone.

Yep, I can officially tie my hair into a knot. And it stays. It's pretty cool, I think.

I usually wear my hair curly, and it looks much shorter that way, but it's actually pretty long. Gotta love how curls shrink the hair up.

In fact, this gives you an idea of how much curls shrink up your hair:

That is ten inches of my hair. Gone. Chopped.

I donated my hair, and it's officiallly on its way to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths. I've been planning to donate my hair for awhile now, and I wanted to make sure that I had plenty to give.

Most organizations that collect donated hair make wigs for children who need them, obviously replacing hair lost from chemo being the major reason. Pantene is the only one that also makes wigs for adults. After thinking long and hard, I realized that I've been touched by cancer in adults too often lately to not try to go this way.

J's mom is a breast cancer survivor, a neighbor passed away last month of brain cancer, a friend from college passed away Thursday (unbeknownst to me that she was that close to dying when I donated, although I thought of her when making the donation) of breast/brain/liver cancer, a friend's mom passed away yesterday from breast cancer, and the list goes on.

On Wednesday, I took a deep breath and drove to my salon. I told them that I was going to donate my hair, and that they had the freedom to do whatever they want with the end cut. I don't know what my hair looks like short, so I have no real opinion. They thought it was a neat thing, and I think I may have encouraged a few others to go this route, too.

Interestingly, the woman at the post office (we have the nicest post office in the world) is a frequent donor. The first time she donated, she gave 18 inches - wow! Things I learned from her: most places will cut your hair for free if you're donating and they'll also take care of mailing it in if you donate to Locks of Love. However, Pantene appears to be the only organization that will send you a letter confirming your donation.

As for me, I'm planning to grow my hair out again and donate until my hair is more than five percent grey (when they can no longer take it). It was a really neat feeling... and I need some neat feelings these days. There hasn't been nearly enough rainbows and sunshine in my life with the recent passings and other issues (a friend's required hysterecomy due to health issues, another friend's third miscarriage since September). This -- such a great feeling!

So what do you think? This is the cut they gave me from the salon (the girl didn't know how to style curly hair, so she blew it straight).

Fortunately, I've also discovered that my hair is still curly -- or at least somewhat so. I'm still getting used to the new cut, especially when I go to shampoo or brush it and I remember my old length just isn't there.

Have you ever donated your hair? Or thought about it? Just tell me I didn't make a huge mistake with this haircut!

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comments:

Michelle, what a wonderful thing to do! So nice:) Your haircut looks great. You and I apparently are both curly girls! I love your hair straight and curly. My hair is used to be long too. It is now your length. Some days it's curly; some days frizzy and crazy. How do the kids like the new hairdo?

I donated 21" to Locks of Love in 2004 and I had to pay for my haircut, but the salon took care of mailing it in. About a year later, I got a thank you card from LOL. I've only donated it once, and it was a great feeling. How nice that you could do it! Hope you can donate another 10 or 12 inches sometime again!

Oh Michelle, your hair is absolutely gorgeous! I can understand the easiness of the natural curl, but your so lucky so be able to wear it both ways. And the chic swing bob is breathtaking! I bet you knocked hubby over with a feather when he got a look at it! No mistake made at all!

P.S. I've never donated my hair because it has always been on the short side, but my daughter has a ton of gorgeous blond hair that maybe one day she'll think of donating.

I don't think I've ever seen your picture the entire time I've been reading your blog. I think donating your hair is a very generous thing to do. I love the new short and curly style! It's mahhhh-velous dahhhling.

Your look great with the new cut! It's wonderful that you donated hair.

Isn't crazy how many people don't know how to style curly hair and instantly opt to straighten it? My hair is not as curly as yours, but this happens to me all the time and I actually prefer my hair curly.

Wow, you look amazing! I love the shorter look, very sassy and sexy. What a great thing you did. My hair is thin and it takes a long time to grow so I've never donated it before. I think it's a great cause though. Good for you. I just found your blog from another one I was just on. I like it. Consider me a follower now.

You are AWESOME!! What a fantastic donation-- and your new cut looks fabulous both styles! Although, I am partial to the curly style, as I have spent my entire life wishing I had curly hair! Very, very nice!

Oh you did such a great thing! I love the cut especially the curly look. I donated my hair maybe 6 years ago to locks of love and I have to say I was a bit disappointed never to receive a confirmation letter or anything of the sorts. I wasn't looking for fanfare but perhaps a postcard acknowledging that they received my donation would have put my mind at ease, you know?

It's beautiful! No, I've never donated my hair; it's too fine and thin to grow too long. I was at Relay for Life this year when a guy with totally gray hair had his hair cut for Locks of Love. Maybe they were just humoring him??